Doğan executives visit attacked daily’s office in Istanbul

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Doğan Publishing Group representative Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ and the deputy chair of the Doğan Media Group’s Publishing Principles Committee, Volkan Vural, have paid a visit to the office building of daily Yeni Akit, which was targeted in an armed attack early Feb. 11, to express their sorrow and show solidarity against terror.

During their visit on Feb. 12 in the Küçükçekmece district of Istanbul, Yalçındağ and Vural gave solidarity messages against terror.

“Unfortunately, a saddening attack happened. We say: ‘May God protect from the worst.’ Additional measures are being taken,” Yalçındağ said, following a meeting with Akit Media Group CEO Mustafa Karahasanoğlu and the daily’s news director, Kenan Kıran. “We have just visited Mr. Karahasanoğlu and newspaper executives.

We have expressed our sorrow on behalf of our entire group,” he said. 

Yalçındağ also stressed the necessity of uniformity in such situations.

“We have to draw a picture of unity and solidarity in such situations for there is only one Turkey. We are all living in this country and we are on the same ship. Therefore, we have visited [the daily’s office],” Yalçındağ said, adding that the prior expectation was the capture of the perpetrators.

Condemning the attack, Vural said the attack was “against democracy.”

“An attack on the media is an attack against democracy. I think, the fact that the media acts in unison, as a whole, and condemns such attacks and expects the immediate capture of the perpetrators will be surety for all of us,” Vural said. 

Meanwhile, Kıran acknowledged the visit from the Doğan executives, saying a photo of the executives together was the most significant one against terror.

“We are all working for Turkey. We will rank together against terror. We can say that this photograph is the most significant one against terror,” Kıran said.

The Istanbul offices of dailies Yeni Şafak and Yeni Akit were vandalized by Molotov cocktails and other weapons early Feb. 11.

Three or four masked attackers launched an attack on Yeni Şafak’s offices in the Yenidoğan neighborhood of Istanbul’s Bayrampaşa district at 5 a.m. while a group of masked assailants attacked the Akit media group building in the Halkalı Merkez neighborhood of Küçükçekmece half an hour later.